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3 years ago ::
Oct 19, 2010 - 9:11PM
#131
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This arcana seems very lazy. Even for Arcana.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 19, 2010 - 11:04PM
#132
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Date Joined:
Feb 26, 2004
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Ravnica guild shirts would definitely be awesome - unfortunately, even if Magic returns to Ravnica, it probably would return to either pre-Guildpact or post-Guildpact Ravnica, so the odds are that at least some of the guilds would not be a factor. The odds of us getting all those shirts (in appropriate two-color combinations, natch) would be pretty slim. This arcana seems very lazy. Even for Arcana.
I dunno, while it didn't really reveal any information it did at least put it all in one place for easy comparison. Big art is never a bad thing in my opinion (maybe not the best thing, but not bad).
My New Phyrexia Writing CreditsMy M12 Writing CreditsAs far as the benefit of the rest of Magic is concerned, gold cards in Legends were executed perfectly. They got all the excitement a designer could hope out of a splashy new mechanic without using up any of the valuable design space. Truly amazing.
--Aaron Forsythe's Random Card Comment on Kei Takahashi 
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3 years ago ::
Oct 19, 2010 - 11:40PM
#133
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Date Joined:
Aug 14, 2003
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Seeing them all lined up, I had to realize again why I don't like the new Spellbombs at all. Even in Limited play, which they are primarily designed for, I would feel terrible putting them in my deck unless I'm in dire need of Metalcraft enablers (and even then I would feel bad). Essentially they're just expensive cyclers with a mostly irrelevant effect attached - apart from the green one, but I'd rather have Wayfarer's Bauble  back.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 20, 2010 - 2:58AM
#134
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Date Joined:
Mar 16, 2004
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Big art is indeed always good. I hadn't realised that Origin Spellbomb  has a little Myr head on it (the nice old idiosyncratic Myr design even, not the new boring one). Seriously cool to see that the Horizon Spellbomb  is in the form of two interlocking octahedra. There should be more cards with that kind of art.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 20, 2010 - 5:47AM
#135
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- Jawsome UnCon Prizewinner
Date Joined:
Sep 22, 2003
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I have a lot to say about spellbombs after reading this Arcana. I don't usually reply to Arcana articles but this one got me thinking. I'm a much bigger fan of the new spellbomb cycle, now that I've see the large art. It would be neat to see the art description originally given for each of these - were these details all called out? Origin Spellbomb - as alextfish noted, a little Myr head (it's like a Myr egg!) Flight Spellbomb  - looks like the tail end of a rocket plane or booster pack that's dissolving Nihil Spellbomb  - has a small face on the side we can see, where the cross-lacing is really fingers closed over the upper half of the face. Panic Spellbomb  - has a small "angry robot" face in the center Horizon Spellbomb - has an icon of a "path to a destination" that zigzags up a little mountain. I also like that the effect coming off of the new cycle of spellbombs is more unique and appropriate, not just "Look - it popped and smoke (blue/black/green) or fire or light came out!". Origin - seems to be disintegrating, due to light pressure from within Flight - dissolving into liquid and lightning Nihil - seems to be giving off "erasing", if that makes any sense, or possibly sucking the surrounding blackness into it Panic - definitely a fireworks display Horizon - this one is the most interesting, it's not really impacting the local area, but instead sending out a vibration or pulse, that's summoning the new land for you. It makes me think of a typical Leyline illustration, almost. The original cycle of cards had overall better gameplay effects, but the art was pretty vague and didn't really line up with what the card did. My brain still belongs to Lifespark Spellbomb  , because it was the only combo card in Pauper Magic for a long time. But these new ones are my favorite art, hands down.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 20, 2010 - 6:38AM
#136
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Date Joined:
Jul 23, 2009
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The shirts look nice, but are much too expensive. Licenced merchandising is an acceptible cheat for things like football teams, which have to make immense amounts of money to pay player salaries and stadium costs and such, but Magic makes its money by selling booster packs, it should price merchandise which advertises it much more cheaply so that more players are able to afford to serve as living billboards.
I was poking around the SwagDog site, and I noticed there are two cheaper Mirran and Phyrexian shirts there too... I'm wondering why they weren't mentioned in the article here, because they're quite pretty:
Phyrexian
Mirran
Personally, I'd absolutely love to get my mitts on the acid black Phyrexia shirt because it looks amazing, but the price is rather ridiculous. 
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3 years ago ::
Oct 20, 2010 - 8:57PM
#137
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Date Joined:
Oct 23, 2006
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It's probably less than what I paid for my last concert shirt. They're expensive if you are lining up your whole wardrobe with MTG shirts, but for 1 and 2 shirts, less of an issue.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 21, 2010 - 1:29PM
#138
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Date Joined:
Oct 28, 2006
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Good call on the "remember it's 1996" tag for today's Arcana. If you're "aggressive from the start" it will "last quite a long time", this 62-card Armageddon deck with 19 lands.
Particularly amusing since I was playing back then and my decks weren't even this good.
Free MTGO Tournaments you should be playing: Pauper (all commons) - Tuesday Nights, prizes by MTGOTraders Peasant (Pauper + 5 uncommons, with paper rarity) - Sunday Nights, prizes by MTGOTraders Silverblack (Modern-era Commons and Uncommons - Most Wednesday nights, prizes by MTGO Bazaar Heirloom ("Cheap" cards only, e.g. rares under 20 cents) - Sunday afternoons, sponsored by MTGOTraders Check the superbly-made Gatherling site for more. Other games you should try: Spectromancer - Online card game by Richard Garfield, available cheap on Steam. DC Universe Online - action-based MMO. Free to play. Surprised me how well designed it is. Simunomics - Free-to-play economy simulation game.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 21, 2010 - 1:55PM
#139
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Date Joined:
May 18, 2002
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1996 is when the theory of "Tempo" began to become articulated.
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3 years ago ::
Oct 21, 2010 - 2:35PM
#140
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Date Joined:
Jun 30, 2008
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Wait... Something about serra angel and nothing about the planeswalker Serra? That's from really really really long ago isn't it?
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